Beschreibung:

A treatise of algebra, both historical and practical ... With some additional treatises, I. Of the cono-cuneus ... II. Of angular sections ... III. Of the angle of contact ... IV. Of combinations, alternations, and aliquot parts. London: John Playford for Richard Davis 1685. 4 parts in one volume. Folio (318 x 196 mm). [20], 374, [4], 17, [1], [2], 176, 2], 17 pp. Engraved portrait of Wallis by Loggan (bound slightly askew and just trimmed in outer margin towards the top), 10 engraved folding plates. Contemporary calf, traces of marbling on edges, covers worn, repairs to hinges and spines. FIRST EDITION. This work is unusual in its coverage of both the history of algebra, and the exposition of its use. The last 28 chapters are dedicated to methods of exhaustion and indivisibles, the building blocks of calculus, as well as the method of infinite series. This was Wallis' way of making sure that the young Isaac Newton's still unpublished findings were set to print, fearing that others on the continent might publish Newton's work before they were published in England. Wallis attended Cambridge intending to be a doctor, but found that he was more interested in mathematics. He entered the priesthood after receiving his master's degree. His parliamentarian politics led him into cryptography, de-ciphering royalist coded messages, and he was asked by Leibniz to teach cryptography in Hanover. He refused, feeling that the knowledge could be used by foreign powers against England. In addition to mathematics, he also wrote treatises on theology, logic, grammar and philosophy. Wing W-613.